> Þetta sama haust ræddu Þorbrandssynir við Egil, þræl sinn,
> að hann skal fara út til knattleikanna og drepa nokkurn af
> Breiðvíkingum, Björn eða Þórð eða Arnbjörn, með nokkuru
> móti en síðan skal hann hafa frelsi.

> This same fall, Thorband's son spoke with Egil, his
> thrall, that he shall go out to the ballgames and kill
> someone of the Breidvikings, Bjorn or Thord or Arnbjorn,
> with a certain way that then he shall have freedom.

This same fall Þorbrand’s sons spoke with Egil, their
thrall, [saying] that he should travel out to the ballgames
and kill one of [the] Breiðvíkings, Björn or Þórð or
Arnbjörn, by any means, and afterwards he shall have [his]
freedom.

Baetke glosses <með nökkuru móti> as 'irgendwie, auf
irgendeine Weise' (somehow, anyhow, by any means), parallel
with Zoëga’s <með engu móti> 'by no means'.

> Það er sumra manna sögn að það væri gert með ráði Snorra
> goða og hafi hann svo fyrir sagt að hann skyldi vita ef
> hann mætti leynast inn í skálann og leita þaðan til áverka
> við menn og bað hann ganga ofan skarð það er upp er frá
> Leikskálum og ganga þá ofan er máleldar væru gervir því að
> hann sagði það mjög far veðranna að vindar lögðust af hafi
> um kveldum og hélt þá reykinum upp í skarðið og bað hann
> þess bíða um ofangönguna er skarðið fyllti af reyk.

> It is said of some people that it was done with chieftain
> Snorri's advice, and he has (“had”) so previously said
> that she should know if he were able to hide inside the
> hut and try then to seek for a bodily injury against men
> and asked him to go down that mountain pass which is up
> above the Game-huts and then go down when meal-fires would
> be made (?) because he said that the winds go much that
> twist lay from the ocean during the evening and then steer
> the smoke up to the mountain pass and asked him to wait
> concerning going down until the mountain pass filled with
> smoke.

Some folks say [‘It is some folks’ speech’] that that was
done on the advice of Snorri goði, and that he [= Snorri]
had [‘has’] prescribed that he [= Egil] should see whether
he could hide himself inside the shed and from there try to
wound people, and told him to go down from the pass that is
up from Leikskálar, and to go down when [the] meal-fires
were made, for he said that [to be] the usual course of the
winds, that winds lay from [the] sea in the evenings and
lifted the smoke [‘smokes’] up into the pass, and told him
to wait to come down until the pass filled with smoke.

<Vita> is Z3; <biðja> followed by an accusative + infinitive
construction can be to tell/order someone to do something;
that seems the likely sense here. S.v. <far> you’ll find
<far veðranna> 'the course of the winds'; <veðranna> is the
gen. plur. of <veðr> 'wind' with the def. art. <Vindar> is
the nom. plur. of <vindr> 'wind'.

> Egill réðst til ferðar þessarar og fór fyrst út um fjörðu
> og spyr að sauðum Álftfirðinga og lét sem hann færi í
> eftirleit.

> Egill got ready for these journeys and went first out
> across the fiord and asks about the sheep of Alftfirding
> and acts as if he were going in search (of them).

Egil undertook this journey and went first out [i.e., west,
since this is taking place on the west side of Iceland]
along the fjords and inquires after the Álptafirðings’ sheep
and made out that he went on a search [presumably for sheep].

<Ráðask til e-s> is 'to decide to do something, to undertake
something'; you can see a special case of this in the gloss
s.v. <ráða> for <ráðask til ferðar með e-m> 'to undertake a
journey with one'. <Fjörðu> is acc. plur.

> En á meðan hann var í þessi ferð skyldi Freysteinn bófi
> gæta sauða í Álftafirði.

> But while he was on this journey, Freysteinn “the rogue”
> should watch (the) sheep in Alftafirth.

And while he was on this journey, Freystein bófi was to [be]
watch[ing] [the] sheep at Álptafjörð.

> Um kveldið er Egill var heiman farinn gekk Freysteinn að
> sauðum vestur yfir ána og er hann kom á skriðu þá er
> Geirvör heitir er gengur ofan fyrir vestan ána þá sá hann
> mannshöfuð laust óhulið.

> During the evening when Egill was (away) from home
> travelling, Freysteinn grazed the sheep west across the
> river, and when he came to a billet of wood there where it
> is called Geirvor which goes down from the west river then
> he saw a man's head loose un-obscured (?).

In the evening, when Egil had left home, Freystein went to
[the] sheep west over the river, and when he came to the
landslip that is called Geirvör, that goes down west of the
river, he saw a man’s loose [i.e., not attached to a body]
head uncovered.

<Skriðu> is the oblique sing. of <skriða> 'landslip,
avalanche'.

> Höfuðið kvað stöku þessa:

> The head recited this stanza:

The head spoke this stanza:

> Roðin er Geirvör
> Geirvor is red

> gumna blóði,
> bloody men,

> hún mun hylja
> she will hide

> hausa manna.
> Man's skull.

Roðin es Geirvör
gumna blóði,
hon mun hylja
hausa manna.

Reddened is Geirvör
with men’s blood;
it [‘she’] will cover
men’s skulls.

<Roðin> is the past part. of <rjóða> 'to redden', used here
as an adj. (nom. sing. fem.); <gumna> is the gen. plur. of
<gumi>, so it’s 'men’s', and <blóði> is an instrumental
dative. The name of the landslip is grammatically feminine,
hence <hon>, but in English the sense requires the neuter
pronoun. A note in my old German edition says that this
Geirvör is actually a small hill that arose from a
landslide.

> Hann sagði Þorbrandi fyrirburðinn og þótti honum vera
> tíðindavænlegt.

> He told Thorbrand (about) the vision and it seemed to me
> to be fraught with great tidings.

He told Þorbrand the vision, and it seemed to him to be
fraught with great tidings.

I’m not sure whether <honum> refers to Þorbrand or to
Freystein; my guess is the former.

> En það er að segja af ferð Egils að hann fór út um fjörðu
> og upp á fjall fyrir innan Búlandshöfða og svo suður yfir
> fjallið og stefndi svo að hann gekk ofan í skarðið að
> Leikskálum.

> And it is said of Egil's journey that he went out across
> the fiord and up to a mountain over in Bulandshofda and so
> south over the mountain and went in a direction so that he
> went down to the mountain pass at the Games'-hut.

But it is to be said of Egil’s journey that he went out
around [the] fjords and up on a fell in from Búlandshöfði
and so south over the fell and directed his course so that
he went down into the pass to Leikskálar.

> Leyndist hann þar um daginn og sá til leiksins.

> He then hid there during the day and watched the game.

He hid himself there during the day and watched the play.

> Þórður blígur sat hjá leikinum.

> Thordr “gazer” sat by the games.

Þórð blígr sat by the games.

> Hann mælti: "Það veit eg eigi hvað eg sé upp í skarðið,
> hvort þar er fugl eða leynist þar maður og kemur upp
> stundum.

> He said: “I don't know what I see up in the mountain pass,
> whether there is a bird or a man is hiding there and comes
> up at times.

He said: ‘I don’t know what I see up in the pass, whether a
bird is there or a man hides there and appears from time to
time.

> Kvikt er það," segir hann.

> It is alive,” he says.

It is alive,’ he says.

> "Þykir mér ráð að um sé forvitnast," en það varð eigi.

> “It seems to me advisable concerning (it) that it be
> looked into,” but it didn't happen.

‘It seems to me advisable to look into it,’ but that did not
happen.

Brian